Rumour has it that it hadn’t even been 10 minutes into the hyped up debut of Mariah Carey and Nicki Minaj as judges on “American Idol” season 12 as it premiered in the U.S, the cotton candy haired rapper flung the “B” word Mariah’s way.

“If she calls me (a b***h), I rebuke it,”

“If she calls me (a b***h), I rebuke it,” the singer shot back.

Practically every "American Idol" viewer or tabloid reader knew all about the months-long feud/publicity campaign leading up to the premiere of this season, starring new alpha-female judges. The "leaked" video of their on-set war of (four-letter) words, Mariah's subsequent claim of Nicki-administered death threats and the need for beefed-up on-set security, it was all that fans of the show were talking about. But amidst the drama and tension brewing between the ladies, the one question that’s looming large over our heads is, is it the beginning of the end for the show? Even before the current season even began, this show was starting to look like “Jersey Shore” or “The real housewives” or “Big Boss” even.

"When you add three incredibly passionate performers to the panel, you know there's going to be a bit of personality conflict," warned host Ryan Seacrest. A bit, may be an understatement, as it became apparent from all the reports about the premiere, what the two were really up to. According to the reports, viewers also happened to witness a war of British accents, prompted by Minaj talking in one and Carey responding in one mockingly, and deliberation about a "Mean Girls" quote to which Nicki had apparently responded incorrectly, Minaj left the auditions claiming that she wanted to "strangle one of the divas on the panel, but I won't tell you who.”

Really, the whole Mariah/Nicki rivalry may actually turn into good fun, if they keep it fun. It may not be appreciated all the time and could get stale quickly but I am hoping and praying to the TV gods that this season won't be entirely overshadowed by their crazy quarreling.

As for the gents, Randy Jackson can judge in his sleep and as for Keith Urban, he will probably have to serve as the middleman in this catfight between the ladies. However, there’s a lot that the Australian country singer could gain from this show. If he plays his cards right, he could have the same kind of mainstream breakthrough as Blake Shelton from “The Voice.”

As far as how long the show will stick around will completely depend on the contestants. I hear there might be an Indian favourite already in the form of Gurpreet Singh Sarin (a discovery of the season’s first audition in New York), already called ‘The Turbanator’ who admitted to owning 40-50 turbans that the judges found shocking!

As for me, I can’t wait for the show to hit Indian TV just so I can get a glimpse of the whole she-said -she-said shtick to know just how problematic the ladies on the panel are. However, I will have to say Mariah's seemingly overstated antics and Nicki's eye-rolling will at least make for some compelling television.